Character Counter
Count characters with and without spaces, live as you type.
About the Character Counter
Half of modern writing happens against a character limit: 160 characters for an SMS, 280 for a post on X, 150–160 for a meta description, 30 for a Google Ads headline, 125 before an Instagram caption truncates. This counter gives you the number that actually matters — characters, counted live as you type or paste, with a separate count that excludes spaces for platforms and forms that measure that way.
Everything runs in your browser: nothing you paste is uploaded, stored or seen by anyone, which makes it safe for confidential text like legal clauses, ad copy under NDA or personal messages. Words and lines are counted alongside characters so you don't need a second tool when a form limits by words instead.
A few limits worth memorising: Google typically displays 50–60 characters of a title tag and around 155–160 of a meta description before cutting off; X allows 280 characters (URLs count as 23); LinkedIn headlines cap at 220; SMS messages beyond 160 characters are split and billed as multiple messages; and WhatsApp Business template bodies allow 1,024. When you're right at the edge, remember that emoji and some symbols count as two or more characters on many platforms — trim a little below the limit for safety.
Frequently asked questions
- Do spaces count as characters?
- Usually yes — SMS, X/Twitter and meta descriptions all count spaces. Some forms measure without spaces, so the counter shows both figures side by side.
- Why does my emoji count as more than one character?
- Emoji and many special symbols are stored as multiple code units, and platforms differ in how they count them. If your text contains emoji, stay a few characters under the limit to be safe.
- Is my text stored anywhere?
- No — counting happens entirely in your browser and your text never leaves your device.
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